SoCalHoops High School News

CIF SoCal Regional D-II Semifinals:
Edison v. Mayfair & Dominguez v. Inglewood--(March 11, 1999)

There are two games being played tonight in Division II:  Inglewood v. Dominguez at Dominguez High School, and Fresno Edison v. Mayfair at Fresno Edison.  We don't know that we'd rank them up there with the great matchups in Divison I, but they will be great games.  If you're in the Compton area, you might want to catch the Dominguez-Inglewood game, and if you're up in the Central Valley, i.e. Fresno, it's either this or Chaminade v. Washington Union in D-III.

Inglewood v. Compton Dominguez
At Dominguez High School 7:30 p.m.

Compton Dominguez and Inglewood are probably the only two high profile teams still left in SoCal who haven't played each other in more than two years.While these teams have played several times in the postseason over the past eight years, their last meeting was in the 1996 Division II regional
final, which Dominguez won, 67-57.

The Dons are ranked 8th in this week's USA Today Super 25 poll which came out yesterday. Their only losses came to Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill, the poll's top-ranked team, San Francisco St. Ignatius and Santa Ana Mater Dei, which are ranked 8th and 15th, respectively in the same USA Today poll.   Dominguez cruised to the Southern Section final last week, and prior to that Dominguez Defeated Sonora 74-59 in the Southern Section Division II AA quarterfinals, a game in which Marcus Moore had 19 points and nine assists, and Tyson Chandler had 16 points. Keith Kincade had 25 points in a 95-71 win over Pomona Garey High in the second round, and Marcus Moore had 19 points, 10 assists and 10 steals. In the first round of the Southern Section playoffs, Dominguez hammered Westlake 98-46.  The top-seeded Dons (29-3) haven't been tested since beginning postseason competition, including Tuesday's 100-51 rout of visiting East Bakersfield. Sophomore center Tyson Chandler, who had 19 points and five blocks against East
Bakersfield, is beginning to assert himself on the offensive end. Tyson is finally managing to become the offensive threat that most everyone thought he would be last year, and he's just a masterful player with the skill, agility and grace of someone half his size. Joining Tyson up front is 6-7 junior Keith Brooks and freshman Darius Sanders in the paint.  Senior guards Marcus Moore, Ronald Jackson and Keith Kincade have also stepped up their play in the past few weeks, and Kincade has become an especially dangerous scoring threat.

If Dominguez has been getting better and better, the same can't be said for Inglewood.  Although they won their first round game in the Southern Regionals on Tuesday, they literally blew an 11 point lead at the Southern Section title game to Mayfair, and the result is now that Mayfair was the Southern Section champ and gets to play Fresno Edison at Edison, and we're not sure which team got the worst of it, Inglewood which gets to play Dominguez at home or Mayfair which has to take on Fresno Edison at home.  The Dons' starting lineup has a double-figure scoring average and an average height of 6'6". Center Tyson Chandler, a 7-foot sophomore, averages 14 points, eight rebounds and five blocks per game. Forward Keith Brooks (6'-7", 235 lbs.) is averaging 15 points and 11 rebounds. The team can go big, or they can go small and fast with point guards Ronald Jackson, Keilon Fortune and several others.  While Inglewood beat San Diego section champion Orange Glen of Escondido 73-67 on Tuesday, they are a team without the depth and strength that Dominguez has. Even though senior guard Sandy Fletcher and senior forward Noel Felix saved Inglewood from complete and total humiliation at the Southern Section Finals, it's probably too much to ask for two players to take on a team as deep and as strong as Dominguez, which goes about 12 or 13 players deep.

Still, anything is possible, but we wouldn't bet the farm on Inglewood (or anyone else in the division) to knock off Dominguez, especially not at home. Stranger things have happened, just ask St. Ignatius, who no one thought would beat the Dons, or Mater Dei who managed at win with a shot at the buzzer in Vegas at the Reebok Prep Classic. As for tonight, only time will tell.  Here are the rosters:

Mayfair v. Fresno Edison
at Fresno Edison High School, 7:30 p.m.

Finally, we get to hear what happened at the Fresno Edison v. Gahr game on Tuesday night.  As we all know by now, Gahr lost and Edison won. Here's what we learned from the Fresno Bee about the game and about the Edison team which will face Mayfair tonight at Edison: 

Senior Willie Johnson wearing 00, turned in a dominating performance as the Tigers advanced to the Division II semifinals of the Southern California playoffs with a decisive victory Tuesday.  In the second game of a doubleheader (the first was the girls game against Culver City, which Edison won),   Johnson had 22 points, seven rebounds, four blocks and four assists in a 71-60 boys' victory over Gahr of Cerritos.  It was so much fun for a nearly full house, that the Tigers will do it again Thursday with the girls playing Foothill of Santa Ana at 6 p.m. and the boys facing Mayfair of Lakewood at 7:30 p.m.  The Edison boys had an easy time, leading by as many as 25 points before allowing the Gladiators to make it respectable in the final quarter. It wasn't close after the Tigers scored the first seven points and led 22-10 after the first quarter.  "We had moments of brilliance and moments of madness," Riddlesprigger said. "At the beginning, we played with a purpose. At the end, we were playing not to lose."  Gahr, with only one player taller than 6 feet 3 inches, had no answer for Edison's inside game. The Tigers held a 41-30 rebounding edge, and most of their offense came from 6-5 Chris Lopez (14 points, 13 rebounds) 6-9 Richard Manning (12 and six) and 6-4 Donald Hollingsworth (10 and six).   "Edison was much more powerful, the most physical team tonight," Gahr coach Kurt Ruth said.  Ruth said, in some ways, Edison matches up with Division 2 favorite Dominguez of Compton, the state's top-ranked team.  "Edison's athleticism is the same as Dominguez's," Ruth said. "I don't know about the perimeter game, because they never had to show it."

This is the first time Mayfair has been to the state playoffs, and it's been a prety exciting ride for the Monsoons who, at 27-6 beat  San Diego Serra 66-49 in Tuesday's first round opener. Sophomore forward Josh Childress (6'-6" So. F), scored 25 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Fellow sophomore Edwin Draughan (6'-5" So. G) saw only limited playing time against Serra, nursing an ankle injury, and he will be needed tonight if the Monsoons have any hopes of winning this one.  Jesus Miranda was one of the team's leading scorers, and Andrew Walters cna Chris Pittman will also be required to step up and play big games tonight against the physical Fresno Edison team. The Tigers (26-7), who defeated Gahr in their opener, 71-60, played a tough preseason schedule that included an overtime victory over Southern Section Division I-A champion Mater Dei at the Reebok Holiday Prep Classic in Las Vegas. Senior guard Willie Johnson is an explosive scorer, and Edison also has talent in the frontcourt with 6-7, 250-pound junior Chris Lopez (younger brother of Alex Lopez, formerly of Campbell Hall and U-Dub) and 6-9 senior Richard Manning. The duo combined for 26 points against Gahr, but then Mayfair doesn't have Gahr's height limitations (with 6'-7" Brandon Morgan, Childress, Draughn, and Jeff Bonds at 6'-5")  and we'd expect a much closer game in this contest than Tuesday's games.

Here are the rosters:

 
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